Business Excellence Frameworks (BEFs) are primarily created based on the best practices of outstanding organizations, focusing on performing today and transforming for tomorrow in a sustainable way. Many business excellence frameworks (BEFs) have been developed across the world since the launch of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the Baldrige Performance Excellence Criteria in the U.S. in 1987. Based on the earlier systematic literature review findings on the impact of adopting business excellence frameworks (BEFs) on organizational performance, a set of research questions was developed by the authors for the qualitative research. 15 organizational leaders were interviewed who have experience in the Business Excellence domain, and we obtained their responses against defined research questions. Most leaders mentioned that adopting BEFs impacts organizations by improving their performance, but quantification is difficult. The triggers for adopting BEFs are attributed to the desire to win an award, transform the organization, or follow a corporate mandate. Most leaders felt that while triggers can be many, all bring improvement, hence an acceptable approach. Future research may focus on understanding the organizational performance impact based on the trigger for adoption, including whether the trigger influences the initiatives taken during the process as well as its outcome, with an India geography focus.

Business Excellence, EFQM, Business Excellence Award, Baldrige Excellence Framework, MBNQA, Organizational Performance, Transformation, Impact